§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has carried out to establish in how many and what percentage of cases military equipment exported since 1 May 1997 under an export licence has been used for(a) internal repression and (b) other human rights abuses; and if he will make a statement. [62424]
§ Mr. Tony Lloyd[holding answer 8 December 1998]: No formal mechanisms exist at present for systematically monitoring the use that has been made of British defence equipment once it has been exported. Where relevant, our Posts overseas report on the use of British-supplied equipment in the light of information they receive. We have no evidence that military equipment exported under a UK licence since 1 May 1997 has been used for internal repression or other human rights abuses.
Licence applications for exports of military equipment and dual-use goods to military or internal security end-users are assessed against our defence export criteria and the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports. Under Criterion Two of the EU Code we assess the attitude of the recipient country of the proposed export to relevant principles established by international human rights instruments, and exercise special caution and vigilance in issuing licences to countries where serious violations of human rights have been established by the competent bodies of the UN, the Council of Europe or by the EU. We will not issue an export licence if there is a clearly identifiable risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression.